0:00:00 > 0:00:00and secure a bright future fault ridden. We will have live coverage
0:00:00 > 0:00:06of that here in BBC News. -- bright future for Britain.
0:00:06 > 0:00:11Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19And the economy in tatters. We look at Robert Mugabe's devastating
0:00:19 > 0:00:27legacy. And this couple of coffee cost more than $60. We find out what
0:00:27 > 0:00:36makes this cuppa a costly brew. Hello, and welcome to Asia Business
0:00:36 > 0:00:42Report. I'm Sharanjit Leyl. A new era for Zimbabwe, as the country's
0:00:42 > 0:00:45long-running president, Robert Mugabe, vows to pressure and
0:00:45 > 0:00:50resigns. But for the country's next leader, many challenges lie ahead,
0:00:50 > 0:00:55including revitalising the economy. Critics blame Robert Mugabe for
0:00:55 > 0:00:59ruining Zimbabwe's economy. Over one fifth of the population live in
0:00:59 > 0:01:03extreme poverty, and three quarters of them live on less than $5.50 a
0:01:03 > 0:01:08day. That is according to the World Bank. Its currency was scrapped in
0:01:08 > 0:01:132009 after hyperinflation reached several billion %, and it was
0:01:13 > 0:01:18replaced by foreign currencies, mainly the US dollar. This economist
0:01:18 > 0:01:22says the country is literally running out of money to pay its
0:01:22 > 0:01:29debts.The Zimbabwean economy has less than one month of cover for its
0:01:29 > 0:01:32international reserves. Basically, the international benchmark is
0:01:32 > 0:01:37looking at three and a half to four months of cover, but because of the
0:01:37 > 0:01:41severe liquidity crisis that has faced the economy, it has got to the
0:01:41 > 0:01:44point where there is virtually no money to support the payment coming
0:01:44 > 0:01:51in. So you have had people who would ordinarily have transacted business
0:01:51 > 0:01:54with other people or other international partners, kind of
0:01:54 > 0:01:58stepping back a bit because they are just not too sure when they will get
0:01:58 > 0:02:03paid, and they are not too sure, even if they get paid at all, they
0:02:03 > 0:02:09can take money outside of the economy.Now, as the European Union
0:02:09 > 0:02:14and the United Kingdom battle over what shape their divorce will take,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19some countries are trying hard to thrash out a trade deal with both
0:02:19 > 0:02:24sides. One of them is India. It is the UK's Allders trading partner,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28but the European Union also has a lot to offer. -- Aldous. We spoke to
0:02:28 > 0:02:33India's commerce minister. India is in a win-win situation with
0:02:33 > 0:02:40both the EU and the UK. The EU is India's largest trading partner, at
0:02:40 > 0:02:44$80 billion worth of goods and services exchanged last year.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Outside the bloc post-Brexit, the United Kingdom trade with India
0:02:49 > 0:02:58could surge as much as $2.5 billion per year. So which side will be the
0:02:58 > 0:03:02winner? India's commerce minister told me that it is a close fight.We
0:03:02 > 0:03:08are not playing one against the other. The EU has great exports in
0:03:08 > 0:03:12wines and chocolate and automobiles, many other things. The UK is also
0:03:12 > 0:03:18pretty strong. They have developed as a great financial centre. It is
0:03:18 > 0:03:22not one against the other, they are independent of each other. But the
0:03:22 > 0:03:28EU, we have been in talks, we are in the 16th round of talks with the EU.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32So why should the UK hurry up? For a start, India and the EU have
0:03:32 > 0:03:39restarted their free-trade agreement talks after a gap of four years.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Aside from that, the UK may not have access to the single market. So it
0:03:43 > 0:03:48will be looking at other countries for greater market access. Emerging
0:03:48 > 0:03:54markets like India offer much.As you can see, we are already trading
0:03:54 > 0:03:59with the UK, there is already a convergence of interests. We need to
0:03:59 > 0:04:06elevate it to a new level. Then we can make an offer. Whatever works...
0:04:06 > 0:04:13So what can the UK offer India in return? Well, for one, India once
0:04:13 > 0:04:17liberalised visa rules for its students and skilled workers. New
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Delhi also wants to protect over 800 Indian companies operating in the
0:04:21 > 0:04:30United Kingdom, providing over 100 -- 100,000 jobs.It is my duty to
0:04:30 > 0:04:34protect the interests of India, to promote the interests of Indian
0:04:34 > 0:04:38businesses, to make sure that whatever deal we have as a result of
0:04:38 > 0:04:41these changes, we definitely support them.So what now? What are the next
0:04:41 > 0:04:46steps that need to be in place for India and the UK to sign a free
0:04:46 > 0:04:51trade agreement?I will be going to London early next year. We will be
0:04:51 > 0:04:55beginning a trade dialogue, we will take it forward from there.That was
0:04:55 > 0:04:59the Indian commerce minister. In other business news, either Mack
0:04:59 > 0:05:04says personal data Mac belonging to 16 million customers and drivers was
0:05:04 > 0:05:10breached one year ago. -- Uber says personal putter. The CEO released a
0:05:10 > 0:05:13statement saying that email addresses and phone numbers had been
0:05:13 > 0:05:16accessed by a third party data provider. He says sensitive
0:05:16 > 0:05:19information like to placate in history, credit card numbers, bank
0:05:19 > 0:05:23account numbers and Social Security numbers were not access in that
0:05:23 > 0:05:28breach. -- trip location history. Google says new stories from two
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Kremlin owned news providers, Russia today and Sputnik, will be placed
0:05:33 > 0:05:36lower in search results amid claims Russia has interfered with foreign
0:05:36 > 0:05:40elections. Russia's communications watchdog said it would consider
0:05:40 > 0:05:44retaliatory measures. Taiwan's government will hold a public
0:05:44 > 0:05:47hearing on Wednesday on a controversial proposal to revise a
0:05:47 > 0:05:50labour law which has been in effect for less than a year. The
0:05:50 > 0:05:54legislation in question was aimed at allowing Taiwan to catch up with
0:05:54 > 0:05:57other affluent developed economies by giving workers a mandatory two
0:05:57 > 0:06:04days off a week to help create a work-life balance. So why is the
0:06:04 > 0:06:09government reversing its decision? I put that to our correspondent.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The government did not expect the strong opposition it got from both
0:06:12 > 0:06:16the employers, but also the employees. Basically, what happened,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20the employers found it too expensive to give their employees two days
0:06:20 > 0:06:24off, because they would have to hire more workers, and they also found it
0:06:24 > 0:06:27too expensive to pay them more overtime, because under the new law
0:06:27 > 0:06:30they would have to pay more for overtime. What they ended up doing
0:06:30 > 0:06:34was shutting up shop early. The employees ended up not making as
0:06:34 > 0:06:37much money because they couldn't work overtime any more. So everybody
0:06:37 > 0:06:40was unhappy and the government was forced to make changes to the law.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44What they propose right now is giving the employers more
0:06:44 > 0:06:48flexibility, meaning that they can require their workers to work 12
0:06:48 > 0:06:52consecutive days as long as they give them one day off at the end of
0:06:52 > 0:06:58the 12 day period. Also, employers now pay less overtime pay and are
0:06:58 > 0:07:01allowed to make their workers work longer hours, overtime hours, at
0:07:01 > 0:07:07each month. So that has caused the Labour groups to be unhappy. They
0:07:07 > 0:07:12have protested outside Parliament and the Ministry of Labour. They say
0:07:12 > 0:07:16this is bad for employees and it is taking things back to the way they
0:07:16 > 0:07:22used to be, so there is no improvement at all. Now, for many of
0:07:22 > 0:07:26us, working professionals, a cup of coffee is an essential start to the
0:07:26 > 0:07:30day, especially on mornings. But how much are people actually willing to
0:07:30 > 0:07:35pay for it? Well, a cafe right here in Singapore and Hong Kong is
0:07:35 > 0:07:40charging customers over $6 per cup of coffee. You heard me right, over
0:07:40 > 0:07:45$60 a cup. That is because the coffee beans were acquired at an
0:07:45 > 0:07:49auction. I went to find out what was so special about them.
0:08:06 > 0:08:18This coffee, it is Panama Geisha, a crop she scored 94.11, the highest
0:08:18 > 0:08:23scorer in the world. This coffee is auctioned at 601 US dollars per
0:08:23 > 0:08:30pound. For the OK, the notes, the interesting flavours of teachers,
0:08:30 > 0:08:39like she is and Jasmine, which is rarely found in the natural product.
0:08:39 > 0:08:45-- peaches, lychees and jasmine. People are looking into coffee like
0:08:45 > 0:08:52fine wines. Natural crops and products are appreciating in value
0:08:52 > 0:09:04because of the better practices, and it is getting more complicated and
0:09:04 > 0:09:06complex.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16I have to cups in front of me. One is more than $60, the other is just
0:09:16 > 0:09:21$8, just the regular copy they serve you. I don't know which is which but
0:09:21 > 0:09:27I'm going to taste and try to find out. OK. That tastes like regular
0:09:27 > 0:09:39coffee. Now, I think it's this one. Am I correct?Correct!Excellent.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44Thank you. I think it was only because it is not like any other
0:09:44 > 0:09:51coffee either the tasted before. -- I've ever tasted.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04I don't know about paying that much, but it certainly puts you in the
0:10:04 > 0:10:07mood breakup of coffee. Let's look at the markets before we go. They
0:10:07 > 0:10:12are doing incredibly well. The Hang Seng is up. It closed at a
0:10:12 > 0:10:16seven-week high yesterday. Today it is taking those cues from Wall
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Street, which also ended much higher, especially technology
0:10:19 > 0:10:24stocks. In fact, I should say the Hang Seng is up over 35 are sent on
0:10:24 > 0:10:28the year. So it has certainly been going gangbusters. Australian
0:10:28 > 0:10:31markets are doing particularly well, metals prices used in a